Quaker Hill Farm 2006 Summer News What beautiful weather we are having this year. We experimented with our garden and covered the whole area with heavy mulching, extra manure and mapped out more selective planting areas. After putting in started plants on Memorial Day Weekend, we harvested our first little cucumbers in just 31 days. The whole garden in general is extra lush and I can't wait for the tomatoes. The pumpkins certainly look promising and I have high hopes for the winter squash. The one thing I really like about heavy mulching is the complete lack of weeds and need for hoeing. The garden is not only more productive, it is just more enjoyable for being less demanding for management. The rhubarb has been productive and delicious and I already have some preserved for winter. Our haying season began earlier this year than any year of the 21 past. Our early 6th month start gives us hope that we may have a second cutting. We hope for this every year but the weather is seldom favorable for it. The new bee hives are installed back in one of our fields under the old apple tree. We look forward to harvesting honey from them next year. Our new starter flock of laying hens is growing nicely. Buff Orpingtons are so delightful, such pretty gold color. It is quite a site to watch the geese, chickens and pea fowl search around for the last tasty morsels before they roost for the night. The chickens are roosting too often in our huge honeysuckle bush by the goat barn. Their weight is bending the branches a bit much and we may have to prop it up a bit. I’d hate to ban the chickens from it all together - it’s their favorite place on the farm! Our soap making is in full swing. We are producing about 1,000 pounds per week and hope to get ahead a little. The kids are all born and the goat milk is super abundant to make soap and other things - I hope to try some new cheese recipes this year too! Our summer farm tour and Simple Living Skills Workshop schedule is booking up. It will be nice to meet many of you in person. I always hope for good weather for visitors. The spinning wheels are put away for the season. There won’t be time for spinning again until Autumn. I’ll miss the whisper of the wheel going round but it is one of those things to look forward to later this year the anticipation of which makes winter a bit less bleak. There is little time to write - duty calls elsewhere. Have a safe and happy summer and praise God through Christ in all you do. - Quaker Anne Words of Wisdom People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway. - Mother Theresa